Review Blog

Jan 09 2012

Requiem: Poems of the Terezin Ghetto by Paul B. Janeczko

Candlewick Press, 2011. ISBN: 9780763647278.
Fragments of lives and snippets of personal recollections, told by
the imagined voices of the inmates of the Terezin Ghetto, a prison
camp in what is now the Czech Republic, depict the horror of the
existence of those sentenced to death. Whilst on the surface, music
and the arts apparently abound, all is not as it seems. Copious
amounts of propaganda is distributed by the soldiers and those in
charge of the 'ovens of Auschwitz', and glossed over as being
commonplace and the accepted modus operandi in keeping the rest of
the world ignorant of the facts of the death camps. The book's
textured jacket depicts the silhouette of a featureless group of
people, hands joined, standing in front of a red-toned building.
Inside, the jacket information states that the book is 'Accented
with historic illustrations by the inmates, found after the war
ended'. These dark images provide a backdrop to the sparsely worded
poems. Each of these elements combines to create a powerful
collection of poetry.
Janeczko's numerous poetry collections are varied, ranging from the
simplistic form poetry appropriate for younger children to this
evocative, powerful, moving collection aimed at adults and students
in secondary school. From this slim and elegant volume, certain
poems could also be chosen to use in war units as discussion
starters with upper primary students. This title will also be a
valuable resource for year 10 teachers, particularly in light of the
new National Curriculum and its World War 2 focus, a collection to
read and re-read.
Jo Schenkel